motile

Etymology

From Latin mōtus, perfect passive participle of moveō (“I move”) (English move).

adj

1. (biology) In organisms: having the power to move spontaneously.
   1914 Shelford, Victor E.: The American Naturalist: Comparison of the Responses of Sessile and Motile Plants and Animals Sessile organisms are those which are sedentary in habit, whether attached or possessing slight powers of locomotion. Motile organisms are those that habitually move about. Vagile or creeping forms as well as swimming, walking, flying, burrowing types are included. Most sessile animals are capable of moving their parts, while only a few sessile plants possess this capacity, and these only to a slight degree. There is no sharp distinction between sessile (sedentary) and motile organisms. Every possible gradation exists between fixed non-motile types as trees on the one hand and the pelagic fishes on the other.
   It seemed to him that, if there were a Holy Trinity as the churches taught, this must be unified through a manner of capillary action, Father merging into Son and both into Holy Ghost. So God is motile as the blood is. 1993-05-06, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford, London: Hutchinson, →OL
   And even if they use condoms, Wendell is young. His sperm is likely to be extremely motile. 2010-01-21, Bob Harris, “The Proof in the Pudding” (1:27), in Bones, season 5, episode 12, spoken by Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel)
   2010 Steven M. Carr: Origin of Evolutionary Novelty, The Garstang Hypothesis Memorial University of Newfoundland Modern As (Subphylum Urochordata) typically have a motile tadpole larva that undergoes metamorphosis to a sessile adult.
2. (biology) In organs or organelles: capable of producing motion.
   1857 Philip Henry Gosse: On the Presence of Motile Organs , and the Power of Locomotion, in Foraminifera ... . These [Foraminifera] were always found, a few hours after the weed had been deposited in my vases, adhering to the glass, with the pseudopodia extended ... constantly roaming ; they crawled up and down the stems and branches of the Algae, and over the various objects in the tank, never remaining long in. one station ... it is by means of the adhesion and contraction of the pseudopodia, that the animal drags itself along....
   Flagella and cilia are structurally conserved motile organelles found on diverse cell types, ranging from single-celled protozoa and algae to multicellular tissues in vertebrates. They have diverse roles, for example, they can propel cells such as sperm through their environment or move fluid across a cell surface, as in ciliated epithelia such as the respiratory tract and oviduct. 2001Susan K Dutcher: Motile organelles: The importance of specific tubulin isoforms: doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00250-0
3. (physiology) In organs: having the power to move their contents, or to change their shape or tension by writhing or contracting as required by their particular physiological functions.
   2007 H E König et al: Veterinary Anatomy of Domestic Mammals Visceral motility is responsible for transporting the contents of the different organs. Thus it controls the amount of contents found in any organ at any one time. Through contraction and dilatation mechanisms, the food bolus passes through the intestinal tract, the gall bladder secretes bile, urine is excreted, semen is transported and the uterus wall contracts during birth. This motility is also responsible for the closing of sphincters, for example at the stomach exit (pylorus) or in the bladder. The diastole and systole of the heart can be understood as the motility of the circulatory system.
4. (psychology) Of or relating to those mental images that arise from the sensations of bodily movement and position.

noun

1. (psychology) A person whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action, such as incipient pronunciation of words, muscular innervations, etc.